Here’s what we were reading while wondering who actually won Madison’s Ironman [1].
Government
Dane County Sheriff Dave Mahoney says collecting data on racial disparities in law enforcement will cost significant money [2]. The City Council moved to accelerate a raise for employees unable to bargain for wage increases [3]. Dave Glomp says the Midtown Police Station, delayed in Soglin’s budget, can’t wait [4]. About 20 people attended the Dane County Board meeting this week to oppose cuts in funding the Tenant Resource Center [5]. The council also unanimously overrode Soglin’s veto of a liquor license for a State Street restaurant [6]. Soglin is asking neighborhoods to make sacrifices [7] for the Judge Doyle Square project. The Judge Doyle Square project requires 13 exceptions to an 18-month old city policy about Tax Increment Financing [8]. The Mayor predicts a close vote [9].
Public Spaces
The city will look at condemning six buildings on Mifflin and Bassett Streets to build a new park near the UW campus [10]. An owner of one of the buildings objects to the plan [11]. The push for a park is part of the Downtown Plan, which says the area is significantly underserved when it comes to parks [12]. One Madison resident thinks the park is a waste of money at a time when cash is tight [13]. Chris Rickert says trading cheaper housing for park space just exacerbates the shortage of housing options for people making less money [14]. The Blair Street Gardens at the bottom of Willy Street will be renovated this fall [15]. The Marquette neighborhood is concerned about the environmental impact [16] of a state storage building. Businesses around Madison formed the Blue Water Business Consortium to protect what they see as one of the state’s most valuable shared assets [17].
Community
The State Journal took a deep dive into bike and pedestrian crashes [18], noting that fatal crashes have declined over the last two years. The School District’s director of youth and community engagement, Nichelle Nichols, plans a listening tour of schools [19]. About 3,000 people turned out in thunderstorms on a rally to “Take Back the Bike Path” following the rape of a UW-Madison graduate student on the Capital City Trail on last Saturday night [20]. Participants of MGE’s Community Conversations series are critical [21]. Fiesta Hispana is recapped in Spanish [22] on Madison365, and Willy Street Blog calls this year’s Will Street Festival was “the best fair in years [23].”
Edgewood College’s Community Scholars Program encourages service [24]. The East Side History Club is raising money to reprint a book of photos about the history of the Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahara neighborhood [25]. Literacy Kitchen uses the dumpling to help teach about different cultures [25]. The designer of the new Orpheum sign tries to track down the original [26] from the 1920s. Madison365 profiles Eric Upchurch [27], a social justice advocate and member of the YWCA and Young Gifted and Black Coalition. Madison’s comedian and transgender activist Dina Nina Martinez is starring in a locally filmed webseries [28].
Also, Neil Heinen of Madison Magazine thinks you should be reading us more [29].
Welcome to the Madison Commons, a website designed to provide news and information about all of Madison's neighborhoods and a crossroads for the discussion of community issues. The name comes from the idea of a village commons, a place for news, talk, debate, and some entertainment, too, that's open to everyone.
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Links:
[1] http://host.madison.com/wsj/sports/running/ironman-wisconsin-mixup-by-organizers-costs-edward-schmitt-title/article_9adce5c4-f307-5108-ab5e-d7831821b22a.html
[2] http://host.madison.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/sheriff-dave-mahoney-says-more-data-on-racial-disparities-could/article_90c21f75-80ca-5096-a9c0-cdb0d5fe72d0.html
[3] http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/city-council-moves-up-raises-for-employees-outside-of-bargaining/article_6f049f93-beff-5b42-932c-761830f7f830.html
[4] http://host.madison.com/ct/opinion/column/dave-glomp-don-t-delay-midtown-police-station/article_3e64ae7e-6abe-5d46-aef1-6a317f0ba331.html
[5] http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/govt-and-politics/public-protests-tenant-resource-center-funding-cut-from-dane-county/article_ab03cd8b-ff31-5857-b337-25337209facc.html
[6] http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/govt-and-politics/city-council-overrides-mayoral-veto-grants-mad-city-frites-beer/article_184115cf-8674-5edf-ab3a-502d89945b79.html
[7] http://www.isthmus.com/news/opinion/mayor-soglin-priorities/
[8] http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/columnists/chris-rickert/chris-rickert-project-not-policy-drives-judge-doyle-square-tif/article_ad0cb5d6-cc7d-5781-b864-fd84ce2eefa6.html
[9] http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/govt-and-politics/paul-soglin-predicts-close-vote-on-judge-doyle-square-development/article_179a24aa-4300-5ab1-a33c-fb828afa639c.html
[10] http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/city-could-condemn-properties-for-downtown-park/article_e206a7f6-17b7-5581-a64a-5f49aecc8fd2.html
[11] http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/apartment-owner-criticizes-city-s-condemnation-park-plan/article_aec6e38b-bcee-58a9-a3be-9018ec367eab.html.
[12] http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/govt-and-politics/madison-eyes-downtown-site-for-a-new-park/article_da6a8764-6d47-5c4a-8280-77d5311131c4.html
[13] http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/opinion/mailbag/time-is-not-right-to-build-park-downtown--/article_2a6bee89-6d38-55e9-b25d-81a2af2421f9.html
[14] http://host.madison.com/news/local/columnists/chris-rickert/chris-rickert-urban-parks-a-nice-place-to-visit-but/article_164019f9-98ea-5462-a748-5eb90e694c47.html
[15] http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/writers/laurel-white/blair-street-gardens-to-undergo-major-renovations-beginning-this-fall/article_9af4c762-1462-5714-aebb-098e2666dd35.html
[16] http://willystreetblog.com/wp/2015/09/15/environmental-safeguards-seriously-lacking-in-central-services-demolition-plan/
[17] http://www.isthmus.com/news/news/blue-water-business-consortium/
[18] http://host.madison.com/news/local/when-cyclists-die-a-closer-look-at-dane-county-crashes/article_d5068be2-0ff0-5b21-a31f-891890c9daf1.html
[19] http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/education/madison-school-district-s-nichelle-nichols-plans-listening-tour-to/article_47a042ee-5626-5f37-af1b-137eca8c51f4.html
[20] http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/crime-and-courts/thousands-take-back-the-bike-path-in-support-of-rape/article_9fd6ec79-7c53-5aa2-9a1f-9c1a487e78d2.html
[21] http://www.isthmus.com/news/news/mge-future-direction-clean-energy/
[22] http://madison365.com/index.php/2015/09/21/viva-fiesta-hispana/
[23] http://willystreetblog.com/wp/2015/09/20/the-best-fair-in-years/
[24] http://capitalcityhues.com/090315EdgewoodCollegeCommunityScholars.html
[25] http://host.madison.com/news/local/around-town-east-side-history-club-raising-money-to-reprint/article_e5acee7e-6ae0-5624-bffe-5d85bd9c2cf9.html
[26] http://www.isthmus.com/news/news/orpheum-new-sign-mysteries/
[27] http://madison365.com/index.php/2015/09/18/social-justice-crusader/
[28] http://themadisontimes.themadent.com/article/just-another-girl-madisons-favorite-comedian-dina-nina-martinez-launches-new-webseries-talks-trans-visibility/
[29] http://www.channel3000.com/madison-magazine/business-city-life/Madison-Commons-deserves-more-attention/35200176